It All Started With Lightning

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With Baldur's voice, he gathered all his strength in his legs and jumped like a rocket. As he almost reached the ceiling of the cave, he saw the ground shake before he fell.

The worm was still staring at him, screaming. It wanted to eat him in the air. As if trying to catch a fly.

Sharp spikes began to emerge from the trembling ground. It was like a giant spear. They came out so fast that William didn't even notice the spikes slithering through his chin and out over his head as the creature that was about to devour William opened its mouth in glee as William fell through the air into the creature's mouth.

The creature died while William was airborne.

William stared at the strange scene in awe. 'Mages are really strong,' he thought. Meanwhile, he fell to the ground.

It was as if he was looking at a work of art from his old world. The creature had turned into a kebab, completely skewered on spikes.

William dragged his exhausted body towards the creature's body. The creature had already lost a lot of blood from biting off its own head. In addition, it was bleeding like a waterfall from the sharp spikes. He immediately ran and took the two barrels out of his dimensional bag. Since his bag was small, it could only hold so much.

He shouted to Baldur as he filled his own barrels.

"Hurry, the blood is running out!" he said.

But after a few seconds of silence, he turned and looked behind him.

Baldur was on his knees, shivering and drenched in sweat. He couldn't even speak. William rushed to his side and said to the breathless Baldur.

"Give me the barrels now!"

Baldur could only shake his head and put his finger into his dimensional bag. Ten empty barrels immediately came out. William took the barrels and ran to the creature. After filling them all, he noticed that the blood was still flowing.

"Are there any more barrels?"

In the distance, Baldur's tired face slowly recovered. The trembling and sweating were gone. But his still-soaking clothes were not.

He didn't speak again, just took out two more barrels.

William immediately ran to get them and filled them both.

"Is it over?" he asked Baldur.

Baldur shook his head. He wanted to remove the blood of the iron level worm and replace it with this one, but he didn't have the tools to clean the barrels. The mixing of the two types of blood indicated that this blood might be unstable. So he had no choice. He could only watch as the remaining blood went to waste.

William shook his head in disappointment. Who knew when they would kill a creature of this level again?

After a while, Baldur was able to move his body.

He immediately took a potion from his dimensional bag and drank it. With the potion, the color began to appear on his face.

Gradually, his body turned a healthy pink.

Finally, he stood up and walked over to William.

William was tired too, but not in a bad condition to use a potion. Besides, he didn't have a potion, even if he wanted one.

Baldur was pleased with his work as he looked at the dead creature.

"I think it was worth spending all that mana." He said.

"Of course, it was worth it! We killed a bronze-level creature! And only with two people!" he said. William's joy was evident in his every move.

They mixed all fourteen barrels with the anticoagulant potion and placed them in their dimensional bags.

Again, William only got two, but that didn't matter. At the end of the job, back at the Academy, they would split them in half.

"I don't want this creature's body to go to waste," William said, still admiring it.

"Why should it go to waste? There may not be room in our dimensional bag, but look," he said, pointing to the dead, non-iron-level worms in front of him.

"Their skin is flexible, you can cut it up and make a bag." He said.

"Baldur! You are my lucky star!" said William happily.

'Why didn't I think of this before?' he thought. 'Is my intelligence slowly diminishing?'

William immediately went and made some bags from the skins of these creatures. It was really flexible.

Then he began to remove the teeth of the two iron and bronze-level creatures. After carefully placing the teeth into the torn bags, they were almost all filled. So that the teeth wouldn't puncture the bag, he covered the edges with mud. It was also a good camouflage to prevent the creatures from picking up the scent.

Finally, he cut out the hearts of two of the creatures.

The iron one's heart was like a normal creature's heart, but he could feel the earth element radiating from within.

The bronze one turned yellow in parts. The elemental energy in it was many times greater than the other one.

William stuffed it into his bag with a satisfied smile. After covering it with mud, he gave another satisfied smile.

'I'm rich!' he thought.

The two then went back to their beds for a good night's sleep. They didn't worry about another creature. The powder was enough to keep them away.

The reason this creature came was definitely because it was the mate of the iron-level creature they had killed.

Baldur was about to lie down and sleep when he saw William take out a notebook and pen.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

"This is the first bronze-level creature I have killed. I will write it down in my journal and draw a picture of it." He said.

"Oh? It's nice to keep a journal. It helps with memories."

"Yes, definitely. Could you please make another ball of light and send it to the creature?"

"No problem." He did the spell quickly. It was a spell that used almost no mana. So he could use it anytime, day or night.

"Are you good at drawing?"

"No, I can only sketch or something. I'm just good enough to describe this creature." Said.

"Okay then, I'm going to bed, good night." He said and Baldur turned his back to sleep.

"Good night." Said William and started to write.

'My first bronze-level hunt was an earthworm...'

...

A few hours later, William was the first to awaken. He was only physically tired from yesterday's battles. Baldur's exhaustion was due to his mind. So it was normal that he slept more.

William tried to wake Baldur. Baldur still couldn't open his eyes, tired from yesterday's spells. William didn't pay attention to him anymore.

He cut off the rich flesh of the little worms he had skinned yesterday and began to roast them on the fire.

Baldur came to the fire, though his eyes were still closed as if the smell of the food had attracted him.

'Wow, you glutton, wow,' William said to himself.

They ate for half an hour. They were both as hungry as wolves. So they finished off a small worm. Especially Baldur had eaten more than half of the worm.

"Shall we go back?" William asked, rubbing his stomach.

"Yes, staying any longer only increases the risk. I think we should still leave early in the morning."

"All right. Let's go."

They began to pack their things. William's load was heavy. Baldur said he didn't need any loot from the worms. So William had to carry all the bags himself.

He thought that he would have to find a bigger bag.

It was already filled to the brim. He had to sell the large creatures he would hunt in the future as one body. Since the creatures were intact, the whole body was worth more money.

With Baldur still at his side, William decided to ask. They were still heading for the exit.

"Where can I find a bigger dimensional bag?"

"The Academy sells them. But the biggest one is ten cubic meters." He said.

Ten cubic meters was enough for him to hide the entire body of the bronze-rank creatures for now. A bigger one wasn't necessary because he couldn't hunt bigger and stronger creatures anyway.

"How much?" he asked.

"It is actually cheap. I have five cubic meters, and the price is fifty soul stones. The one with ten cubic meters is one hundred soul stones."

William was both pleased and confused.

"Why so cheap?" he asked.

"Such things should be expensive, but a long time ago there was a third-level mage. He was one of the great mages of the Mage Tower. He was very good at space magic and always wanted to escape from here. However, his strength was not enough. Unable to escape this island, he wanted it to be of some use to people, so he made as many dimensional bags as he could. This way people could save some time". Baldur had a sad expression on his face as he finished speaking.

It was as if such men were heroes, and Baldur was their devoted admirer. But it was impossible not to admire them. One way or another, they had always sacrificed something to escape the island they were trapped on.

"He's dead since you talk like that?"

"Yes. Unfortunately. Now his descendants can't even become second-level mages. A space mage with teleportation might be our only remedy." He said.

William loved this escapist talk, but after a while, this pessimism began to bother him.

So he didn't answer, and the conversation went nowhere.

After a while, they realized that they were now at the exit of the cave.

Now the only obstacle in front of them was to cross the forest without being caught by the wolves.

When they entered the forest, they saw no wolves or any sign of creatures. This made them both happy and nervous. It might be the calm before the storm.

They soon realized why. Because they saw the same little wolf and the same big wolf that he had beaten last time.

Both of them were scared to the bone because the wolf they had beaten was bronze level!

They could feel its oppressive aura from two hundred meters away.

They wanted to turn around and quickly flee to Worm Mountains, but they soon realized that this was impossible.

They were surrounded!

They were both considered strong people, but those damn Silver Moon wolves managed to ambush them every time. This was especially true for William. Crying, 'Brother, please leave me now,' he wanted to say.

When they recovered from the shock and looked at the young wolf in front of them, they realized that it was no longer a cub.

The damn brat was iron level!

In one day, both the little and the big wolf had grown up.

This gave them a second shock.

Soon the little wolf snarled at one of the wolves next to William, smiling.

That wolf soon disappeared into the bushes and came back with some plants in its mouth.

It slowly approached William and handed him the plants. William took them with great surprise. He knew these plants!

These plants were the rarest plants known to man, growing on the eastern side of the Black Forest!

These plants looked like branches of a willow tree, but William was sure that it was a flower.

This flower was called the Spirit Flower!

Its main function was to increase or heal people's souls. Among humans, soul injury was considered the most terrible disease. So there was only one solution, and it was this flower!

After taking the flowers, he looked at the little wolf and asked, pointing at himself.

"For me?"

Wolf nodded slowly and smiled. Then he started to talk about something, growling and howling from time to time.

William couldn't say exactly what he wanted, but he could understand a little.

As far as he could tell, these flowers had a continuation and the wolves didn't need it.

The little wolf pointed at one of the wolves again. This time the approaching wolf was at the top of the iron level.

The wolf began to explain, looking at the two of them, then sometimes pointing with his head to the wolf next to him.

William seemed to understand and asked.

"You want me to beat them up?"

Wolf nodded excitedly.

William was delighted, he would only have to beat up a few wolves and get a Spirit Flower as a reward!

It really was the perfect deal.

But Baldur intervened, being more cautious.

"William, are you sure? These wolves will use you as an oppressive force to reach the bronze level. Is it worth it?"

William replied with composure and a bit of greed.

"Absolutely worth it."

The little wolf gave a low howl and everyone backed away. The ring between William and the big wolf had grown.

He felt like a gladiator in the arena, but the spectators and the king were wolves.

"Baldur, step back." He said.

Then he looked at the little wolf and said, "My sword is broken. So I'll fight with my hands, okay?" he said.

The little wolf nodded quickly.

With his approval, William activated the metal skin and increased the weight of his fists.

"Here we go! Let me see how strong you are!" With that, he was thrown at the wolf in front of him.

"BOOOOMMMMM!!"

His first blow had landed directly on the wolf's head. The wolf immediately lost his balance and fell backward, but William didn't let him get up. He immediately jumped onto his back and began to strike at the back of the wolf's head. The wolf stomped underneath him. However, he was able to dodge William's blows by somersaulting like a horse.

William knew he was injuring the creature in front of him internally. It was not yet as experienced a hunter as the William. It fought with its instincts.

William had grown a lot in that time. Hundreds of creatures he had hunted had given him good experience.

The wolf howled and his body began to glow with a silver light. That was the power of its bloodline.

It was at least twice as fast. Its claws were indeed strong enough to cut through William's skin. There were already some thin cuts on William's arms and legs, but he didn't worry because he knew that they would heal quickly. He saw them as minor scratches.

He wanted to get the upper hand again. He grabbed the wolf by its forelegs as it came towards him at the cost of injury. One of its claws had cut the top of his hand a little, but it was insignificant. With great force, he turned the creature he was holding onto his arm. The belly of the creature was exposed for a second. William struck with all his strength and weight.

"BOOOOMMM!!!" It was like beating a drum. The creature immediately broke free and retreated a few feet. Blood dripped from its mouth. Obviously, the last blow had damaged its organs.

The little wolf knew that his subordinate could no longer fight. So he howled and ordered it to retreat.

Then he growled at the wolf who had brought William the spirit flower, and that wolf brought more flowers to William.

In all, there were seven spirit flowers. This was definitely enough to make him super rich.

When he looked around, he couldn't see the wolf at the top of another iron level, so he called out to the little wolf.

"Shall we stop here for today? You see, our load is heavy." He pointed to the bags beside them.

The wolf nodded with a smile and howled. Immediately, two wolves arrived in the middle of the iron level. One leaned in front of William, the other in front of Baldur.

"Shall we ride?"

The wolf howled excitedly. He said they could ride.

"Thank you. Even though we didn't meet well, our relations are already going well." He said smiling. He immediately loaded his bag and jumped on the wolf's back. The wolf was as big as a car from his previous world. The wolf's body didn't even bend when William mounted it.

But when Baldur mounted, the wolf's knees buckled. Even without Baldur's load, Baldur himself was very heavy.

He felt that if he tried a little, he would become a stronger warrior than himself. The power of the Bloodline was certainly not to be taken lightly.

"See you again!" he shouted and waved.

The wolf howled at him, and the whole pack began to howl with him. Since they were so far from the academy, they didn't worry about warning anyone.

Baldur, on the other hand, was still confused, rubbing his bald head thoughtfully along the way. He mumbled as if he wanted to ask something.

Finally, William could not stand it any longer and asked.

"What do you want to say?"

"Nothing really. What are you doing with those flowers?" he asked.

William had tucked the flowers into the small space in his dimensional bag. There was still a small gap where he kept such useful things for himself.

"I don't know. Maybe I'll sell them?"

"SELL? ARE YOU IDIOT?" shouted Baldur.

"What am I going to do if I don't sell it?" replied William.

"Look, let's make a deal. I'll make potions from it. Let's split it in half, what do you say?"

"No way. Half? Do you think I am a child?"

"All right. 60-40?"

"Impossible. Any mage I go to will give me that offer anyway."

"You think any mage can make a potion?" Baldur was angry.

"Still no. I better sell." William folded his hands in front of him. He thought he was a good negotiator.

"Alright. 70-30. This is the end!" he said.

"No way, 80-20!" William insisted on negotiating like a brick wall.

"80-20 is impossible! 70-30, but failure will be deducted from me," said Baldur finally.

"Agreed! Don't go back on your word!" said William.

Baldur knew that this deal was unfavorable for him, but he agreed anyway. Because with this potion, he could become a second-level mage!

This potion was a damned first-level potion that was sought after, but could not be found!

Although it was a first-level potion, its market price was definitely comparable to two or even a few third-level potions.

That's how valuable soul-enhancing potions were. Besides, the main ingredient was Spirit Flower.

Other ingredients were incomparably cheaper.

This amount of Spirit Flower was definitely enough for him to make fourteen bottles of potions. However, he had to expect failure.

If he could make fourteen potions, he would have four potions left. If he couldn't, he would only have three potions left.

He was confident about the ten potions, but fourteen would be a huge challenge for him.

By noon, they were close to the academy. The wolves stopped and the two dismounted. With a low growl, they disappeared into the forest.

Before leaving the forest, William gave Baldur the Spirit flowers and two barrels of blood. They didn't want to be seen by anyone at the academy. Attracting unnecessary attention could end badly for them.

"We can go to my house if you want. I'll write you a paper there for your mission reward."

Baldur spoke.

"No, it's still early. Let me go and sell these hearts and teeth first. And my sword is broken. I want to buy a new one." William was upset about his sword.

He needed a stronger sword. The Execution Sword was very powerful, but it was useless without a sword to wield it.

...